PyeongChang Delivers Emotion in Final Presentation for 2018 Winter Games

Presentation Team

President of Korea Myung Bak Lee, bid chairman and CEO Yang Ho Cho, Korean Olympic Committee president

Yong-Sung Park, Yuna Kim, reigning ladies figure skating Olympic champion, Communications director Theresa Rah, Jinsun Kim, former Governor of Gangwon province and special ambassador, Dae Seong Moon, Korean IOC member and Olympic gold medalist, Toby Dawson, Korean-American Olympic bronze medalist, Men's Moguls, Torino 2006

Key Messages

Speeches paid lip service to PyeongChang's tagline New Horizons - the best slogan of all three 2018 candidates. The Korean city wants to open up the Winter Games to new regions of the world. Simple facts were conveyed clearly: Theresa Rah said that of 20 Winter Games since 1984, 19 were in traditional markets. None in Korea. Cho repeated similar in his address. The bid played up the two-cluster venue plan as the most compact in Winter Games history.

Key Quotes

Yong Sung Park: "We know it has been a long day for you, well it has been a long wait for us too."

Park apologized to newly-wed Prince Albert for having to spend his honeymoon "listening to a PyeongChang speech for a third time [following two previous bids]." Got big laughs.

Yu Na Kim: "I am an example of a living legacy of the government commitment to improving winter sports. I know now more than ever what our victory will mean."

"Thank you dear IOC members for allowing someone like me to achieve my dreams and inspire others."

Theresa Rah: "The Olympic Movement demands big dreams of all of us and PyeongChang is ready to meet that challenge with your support today."

Jin Sun Kim (who was close to tears at one point): "Even when we were disappointed our hearts were not broken. We never gave up and tried again. We listened to you and have honoured our promises to the IOC through continued investment and efforts."

"Our passion for the Winter Games has not changed over the years, it has only got stronger."

Yang Ho Cho wished the other bids luck "but not too much of it". "We have been preparing for quite a while. I can say with certainty that we are ready. Persistence and patience are powerful words."

President Myung Bak Lee: "Korea want to give back to the Olympic Movement and the world. It is a national priority of the Korean government and has been so for the last 10 years. We have worked hard, we will make you proud. I ask you for your support today so we can finally make our Olympic and Paralympic Games dream come true."

High Points

Lots of high points. Fantastic speeches with good mastery of English language that were softened with a bit of humour. Had the most videos - four - but used them well, particularly one focusing clearly on Pyeongchang's venues and transport plan. Clever move to have Yuna Kim narrate. Bouncy soundtracks kept IOC members interested. PR consultant Mike Lee may have had a hand in one section of the presentation - map showing 19 of 21 Winter Games not in Asia was flashed up. In 2009, Rio 2016 bid leaders caused a stir when they showed IOC members a map showing that no Games had ever been held in South America.

Low Points

Hard to pick any. No real dips in performance of the PyeongChang team. One slight video glitch which is said not to be the

fault of PyeongChang.

ATR Rating

9/10. Best of the three pitches to the IOC by a considerable distance. And the IOC members seemed to think so too. PyeongChang's pitch ended with a big ripple of applause from members. Annecy and Munich had no such rapturous reception.

Written by Mark Bisson